


Sparring

by Quonsethut7



Series: Days Off [2]
Category: The Brave (TV 2017)
Genre: Day Off, Gen, Training for a mission
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-26
Updated: 2018-06-26
Packaged: 2019-05-28 17:12:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15053951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quonsethut7/pseuds/Quonsethut7
Summary: On another day off, Top has everyone training for mission readiness.





	Sparring

Top had completed his workout while the rest of the team slept so he could get a jump on some paperwork.  The team was between missions but they knew the call could come anytime.  The day before they had taken a 15 mile ruck together and Top knew that he wasn’t the most popular person on the team today.  He had already decided to let everyone train on their own.

              Preach walked into the kitchen with a nod in Top’s direction.  He chuckled to himself looking at the empty coffee pot.  He pulled the basket from its slot and emptied the grounds in the garbage can.  “You expecting a call today Top?” Preach smiled as he asked.  “Not necessarily, why?” Top was too distracted by his work to see that his friend and teammate was chiding him on coffee quantity.  He looked up, shrugged and smiled sheepishly, “I only made a couple of cups.”  Preach already knew this but wanted to push the CO a little.  The ruck the day before had been a beast.  Preach finished preparations for a full pot of coffee and pressed the button. He walked over to the table and took a seat while he waited.

              The smell of the brewing coffee wafted down the hall and met Amir as he approached the kitchen.  He looked the two men already in the space over, assessing the upcoming day.  It appeared they would once again be here.  He hoped Top would just have them visit the range, he was still feeling yesterday’s training and wondered what they had done to deserve it.

              Five minutes later, a freshly showered, shirtless McG appeared followed by Jaz, with a sloppy top knot and still wiping the sleep from her eyes.  Everyone took a seat just as the coffee finished.  Jaz groaned at the thought of getting up from her seat.  “Stay there I’ve got it.” Preach rose and grabbed the carafe and mugs and poured everyone coffee.  Everyone but Top.  The team nodded gently to each other in vindication that Top had not gotten coffee.  Top smirked to himself as he grabbed his empty mug and walked to the kitchen to refill it.  “I see that you’re all still grumbling about yesterday.” He took a sip of the steaming coffee and continued, “Train on your own today.  Whatever skills or training you feel you need, do that.  I know yesterday was hard, but we have to stay mission ready.”   He was answered with a series of grumbles and mumbles that many other COs would consider insubordinate.  Not Top, he was feeling yesterday too, but was not going to admit it.

              After breakfast the team started to disperse for their chosen activities.  Amir headed to the range, McG to the gym and Preach was at the weight bench.  Jaz walked stealthily over to the bag.  Top was filing his reports and didn’t see her there.  He jumped just a little when she started hitting the bag.  “Damn it, Jaz” he muttered under his breath.  After a few minutes, Jaz stopped and walked over to his desk.  “Would you spar with me today?”   Top stopped mid-drink and gazed over his cup at her.  Carefully, he finished swallowing, “Why didn’t you go with McG?”

              “I can, but we fight so often I know his moves and he knows mine; it’s more like a choreographed dance than sparring now.  I just need a new partner for a day or so.”  Top looked at her and decided it made sense to him.  “You sure you want to spar or do you want me to hold the pads?”

              He immediately regretted those words when he saw her eyes.  “Let me get my gloves.”  He strode off toward his bunk to retrieve them.  As he walked, he swung his arms to warm up knowing she was ready for a fight now.  He returned gloves on, in his grey Army shirt and a pair of black shorts.  They looked around for a moment to find a place of the proper size and restriction.  The cage was empty from yesterday morning’s inventory and cleaning and they decided to spar there.  Jaz flipped the gate open and stepped inside followed by Top.  Across the room, Preach chuckled to himself as he continued lifting weights. “They are about to start something they might not be able to stop,” he said to himself.

              At first neither threw a punch.  They circled each other assessing, waiting for their moment, and carefully considering their “opponent’s” first move.  Jaz grew quickly tired of waiting and stepped in with a jab, cross combo.  The punches were easily blocked by Top and he stepped into her space and took 2 small body shots before backing out.  Of course, they were pulling their punches, this was about strategy and speed, not actual contact.  Jaz narrowed her eyes and set her jaw before resetting her gloves to guard her face.  Top watched this and as she set her jaw, something made his breath hitch just a little.  The distraction was enough and she stepped all the way into his space with a body shot, hook, upper cut combo.   He raised an arm to retaliate and she easily ducked under it and backed away. 

              For a sniper, she wasn’t paying enough attention to her surrounding and left Top an opening.  He stepped in once with a jab, a second step with a cross, and with the upper cut, she was trapped in the corner, caged in by her CO.  This didn’t usually happen with McG and Jaz took a deep breath.  When she did, she caught his scent and felt his presence all around her.  She felt the air rush out of her lungs. She inhaled again and stepped up into him.  They were nearly pressed together as she looked for a way out.  For just a millisecond, they both paused in the heat of the other.  With a nearly imperceptible shake of her head, Jaz’s mind cleared just enough to strike Top with a left hook.  He’d been expecting the right hook since she was right handed, but Jaz was good.

              Top returned his hands to guard and stepped to the right.  Jaz readied herself for her next series.  They locked gazes and for a second no one was breathing.  They each quickly shook it off and resumed sparring.  They covered the entire area of the cage twice when Jaz caught Top off guard.  She stepped back, bobbed left and then jumped in to the right with one, two body shots.  He backed up with each punch and found himself in the corner of the cage, surrounded by Jaz.  He was mesmerized by it.  Jaz seemed oblivious to Top’s pause and relentlessly kept on with the body shots.  Finally, Top decided it was enough.  He lowered his right hand to block her next shot, and with a pivot and a step in, Jaz was backed into the corner.  This time she looked like a caged animal.  Her brown eyes were wild, and she was going to fight her way out of the corner.  ‘My God she is hot’ the thought passed through before he could even stop it.  He shook it off just in time for the onslaught from his sniper.  She was a good fighter, one of the best he had sparred, but he had already decided he was going to win this one. 

              She started with a relentless combo: body, body, hook, cross, jab, jab, upper cut, stepping forward with each punch.  He knew how much ground they had covered and in one movement he swept her into the corner with a roundhouse and pinned her to the fencing with his foot.  “Cheater” she mumbled.  Top left his foot holding her, “What’s that?” he smirked, all the way through his ocean blue eyes.  She stood pinned against the cage.  He had pulled the kick, but the foot was holding her helplessly against the metal fence.  “We’re boxing here, not doing MMA” she huffed as she said it.  “Actually, orders were to train for missions” he smirked. He brought his foot down and stepped in to keep her pinned and spoke right into her ear “you never know when you might have to improvise.”    Jaz was panting and for a second, I wasn’t sure whether it was from the fighting or her proximity to Top.  Something was clearly happening in that cage and it wasn’t just sparring. 

              From his vantage point Preach glanced over at the two of them.  “Top, that’s a dangerous play” he thought to himself.  Just then, Jaz straightened, wrapped her right leg behind his left and stepped forward with her right hand in Top’s chest.  Top was on the ground in a second.  If he was surprised, he didn’t show it, instead grabbing her ankle as she stepped over him.  He lifted her leg and swept her other leg out from under her.  Knowing she was going down, she twisted and slapped her left arm on the ground to break the fall.  In what seemed like an instant, Top had flipped himself over and had Jaz pinned to the ground.  They were both breathing harder than usual for sparring and I looked at Preach and back at the pair in the cage, not quite sure of what was happening. 

              Once again, Jaz refused to be bested and gave her all to free herself.  Top was better than she was, but he relented a bit to allow her to figure out her next move.  Figure it out she did and before he realized it, he was on his back in a choke hold from his sniper.  He could easily have gotten out of the hold before she tightened her grip, but he was distracted by the faint scent of apples.  That was all Jaz needed and Top was helpless in her grip.  He considered his options and made a quick attempt to free himself through his elbow.  The attempt was unsuccessful, and he begrudgingly tapped his hand on the floor.  They both stood again, and Jaz crowed about her victory.  For Top, it was one thing for Jaz to beat him, wholly another to crow about it to him.  She was not ready when he stepped forward into her space with body shot after body shot until she was again cornered and surrounded by chain link walls.  He ducked his head closer to hers, “You know better than to be insubordinate, right?”

              For a split second, Jaz was worried that she had crossed a line.  She looked straight into Top’s eyes.  She made her decision without thinking and pushed her body into his.  “What are you going to do about that?”  His blue eyes darkened and I swear I saw Top’s breath catch in his chest.  His eyes looked wild and I really couldn’t figure out what was happening right in front of me until later.  He leaned toward Jaz’s ear and started to whisper something.   Just as his lips parted, McG appeared in the doorway.  Jaz’s eyes widened and Top quickly took a step back.  As they removed their gloves and walked toward the gate, they missed the exchange of glances between McG and Preach.  Something was definitely happening with Top and Jaz.


End file.
